The prior art discloses numerous identification bands for hospital patient identification, crowd control, and object identification.
Exemplary of the identification bands of the prior art are U.S. Pat. No. 2,893,143, which discloses a flexible identification band incorporating inaccessible fastener means so that the band cannot be removed from the object on which it is utilized; U.S. Pat. No. 2,954,621 which discloses an identification band utilizing a locking snap fastener of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,941,270, said snap fastener being intended to prevent the removal of the band from operative engagement with the object it encompasses; and 3,059,359 which discloses an alternative band construction also incorporating a self-locking fastener.
Another type of self-locking snap fastener is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,551,963 and can be used in the '359 and '621 bands in substitution for the originally utilized fasteners.
Pertinent also are the teachings of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,285,146; 4,318,234; and 4,386,795, which disclose an identification device designed to be utilized in conjunction with various types of fasteners intended to permanently secure the device about the object being identified and prevent its removal unless it is severed by cutting or other means of severance.
All of the cited patents relate to identification devices and fasteners therefor which prevent tampering with the band to cause its unauthorized removal.
The other aspect of the prior art devices is the incorporation in or on the devices of information relating to the object displaying the band. For instance, in patient identification, prior art usages include the insertion of an information card in a pocket in the band; handwritten information on an inscribable surface of the band; typed information on a surface of the band and the like.
However, recent developments in the art of storing and imparting information have led to the utilization of bar codes or magnetic means of storing information in or upon the bands of identification devices. Particularly, in the case of bar codes, it is necessary to feed the identification devices constituted by the bands through a bar code imprinter which will not receive bands having fastener means incorporated therein because of the inherent limitations of the bar code imprinter. The identification device of the present invention is intended to provide a band which is particularly adapted for use in bar code imprinters.